Current regulations prohibit overland supersonic civil flights in the United States, but include a procedure to request authorization for these flights
for the purposes of test and development of new aircraft. The criteria for such authorizations were developed in the 1970s and placed in an
appendix to the operating regulations. With renewed interest in supersonic aircraft development, the FAA is proposing to modernize the procedure
for requesting these special flight authorizations.

This deviation memorandum expands certificate issuance authority as described in
section 2 of chapter 2 in FAA Order 8130.34. The expansion comes from FAA Order
8000.95, Designee Management Policy, memo number AIR-600-18-6F0-01, which
authorizes the appointment of a DAR-F to issue special flight permits (SFPs) for UAS
production flight testing and experimental airworthiness certificates for the purpose of
operating a UAS for research and development, market survey, showing compliance, and
crew training at a manufacturing facility. Memo number AIR-600-18-6F0-01 is expected
to be incorporated into Change 5 of FAA Order 8000.95 later this year.

Purpose of This Notice. This notice decommissions Operations Specification
(OpSpec) C300, 14 CFR Part 97 NDB, NDB/DME, VOR, VOR/DME, and TACAN Instrument
Approach Procedures Using Substitute Means of Navigation, and creates new OpSpec C085
(same title). The purpose of this change is to establish this OpSpec as a standard authorization.
This is a mandatory change for Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) parts 121
and 135 certificate holders, including part 121/135 combination certificates. All OpSpec C300
templates will be decommissioned and in its place, certificate holders should be issued
OpSpec C085.

Purpose of This Notice. This notice provides additional instructions and guidance related to
Notice N 8900.464, OpSpec/MSpec/LOA A002, Definitions and Abbreviations, which expired
on April 25, 2019. N 8900.464 announced a nonmandatory revision to operations specification
(OpSpec)/management specification (MSpec)/Letter of Authorization (LOA) A002 and directed
the reissuance of A002 for affected operators under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(14 CFR) parts 91 subpart K (part 91K), 121, 125, and 135, and part 125 Letter of Deviation
Authority (LODA) holders. The revision added a definition for “cargo” in support of an air cargo
safety initiative and aligned the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) definition with the
International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) definition. This notice reemphasizes the
requirement to reissue A002 to affected operators and provides guidance for determining
whether the cargo definition may also necessitate the reissuance of an operator’s
OpSpec/MSpec/LOA A003, Aircraft Authorization, or require a change to the Vitals in the
Safety Assurance System (SAS).